969 AD Saint Geraud Monaster. Alvernie Francia. A young french monk, curious, rebel, clever follow the spanish Count Borrell to Rome to try to obtain acknowledgments for his territory from the Pope. But the young benedectine monk has a big interest in discovering the Eternal City and its mysteries. With his young friend Ascanio, Gerbert d'Aurillac wanders in the streets of a dark Rome, full of superstitions and skryers, searching for a mysterious ancient tome meeting on his reserarch many weird and strange peoples.

Based on the true story of the Gerbert d'Aurillac's journey to the Eternal City with the Marca Inspanica count Raimond Borrell, and Saint Geraud prior Attone, Shadows over Campo Marzio magistrally describes the life of the dark ages glancing at deceptions, beliefs and magics that have studded Sylvestr the II's life, The Magician Pope.

The biggest problem in writing a dark age novel is that you have to understand and act with the mentality of the people of that time. The author succed in a very perfect way that you suspect he has really lived in the 969 A.D.

The journey on which things happened is symbol of purification but even the tracks of a people, or better the indentity of peopole in his obscure past. Admirables the descriptions of the city and of the perils related with the travelling at that time. Among corsars and their routine ransacks, people more or less hospitable, popes, imperators, priors, monks and prostitutes, at the end under Campo Marzio lurks a treasure. but which is the real treasure? Great writing capacity that nevere fall in the vacuous stylistic show but it's always finalized to the narration, appropriated the language, great plot and very effective the final of the story.

 Donato Altomare